more than a walking gentleman, attendant upon the King. The earliest date at which we find Humphrey Jeffes mentioned is 1598, when he and his brother Anthony were indebted to Henslowe. ("Diary," 99.) "Dowton's boy Ned" was doubtless a promising young performer; and at this period it was the well known custom of older actors to have boys apprenticed to them for tuition, who generally sustained female characters: that of Rose has not much in it, but love and simplicity. Sibill is her waiting maid, and we may be somewhat surprised to see Richard Alleyne employed as her representative, when we bear in mind that (if it be the same) he was an actor in Henslowe's pay as early as 1593 ("Diary,” p. 5): possibly he was then very young, and his beard in 1600 may not yet have disqualified him for such epicene duties. The Two Merry Three-mens Songs," spoken of in the introductory epistle, are printed before the play, as well as the Prologue; and what is remarkable is, that the names not only of the singers, but of the prologue-speaker, are inserted in MS. in my friend's copy of "The Shoemakers' Holiday." These I shall venture to transcribe, for their rarity and peculiarity, precisely as they stand in the original. It should seem as if most of the actors of that day could sing enough for such a purpose; and we find, from the margin, that Wilson, Massy, and Singer, were the persons to whom was entrusted "The first Three-mans Song. "O, the month of Maie, the merrie month of Maie, So frolicke, so gay, and so greene, so greene, so greene! O, and then did I unto my true loue say, Sweete Peg, thou shall be my Summers Queene. "Now the Nightingale, the prettie Nightingale, The sweetest singer in all the Forrests quier, Intreates thee, sweete Peggie, to heare thy true loues tale: Loe, yonder she sitteth, her breast against a brier. "But O, I spie the Cuckoo, the Cuckoo, the Cuckoo ; Come away, I prithee, I do not like the Cuckoo "O, the month of Maie, the merrie month of Maie, So frolicke, so gay, and so greene, so greene, so greene; And then did I unto my true loue say, Sweet Peg, thou shalt be my Summers Queene.” It does not appear precisely in what part of the performance this musical piece of merriment was introduced; but of the second we are informed, that it "was to be sung at the latter end" of the comedy. No place, however, is marked for its insertion, and I do not well see how it could have been brought in after the King's formal closing speech. Possibly, strict propriety was not consulted, and the song might be brought in there, "in order to dismiss the spectators the more merrily." It was given by "Singer, Wilson, and the Boy," as the MS. marginal note states, and it runs thus: "The Second Three-mans Song. "Cold's the wind, and wet's the raine, "Trowle the boll, the jolly Nut-browne boll, And here kind mate to thee! Let's sing a dirge for Saint Hughes soule, "Downe a downe, hey, downe a downe, Hey derrie derrie down a down. [Close with the tenor, boy. Ho! well done, to me let come, Ring compasse, gentle ioy! "Trowle the boll, the Nut-browne boll, And here kind, &c., as often as there be men to drinke. At last, when all have drunke, this verse. "Cold's the wind, and wet's the raine, Saint Hugh be our good speede: "The boy" might be either "Dowton's boy Ned," or some other youth, brought in for the occasion, if it were not thought right that Rose, in her female attire, should join in "Troll the bowl, the jolly nut-brown bowl," &c. It is clear, from the printed marginal note, that the tenor voice was that of a boy. I cannot think that any of our members will be of opinion that I have gone too much at large into this interesting matter. I consider the comedy, (excellent in most respects in itself, and well worth reprinting) with its manuscript marginal notes, one of the most curious dramatic relics of the time of Shakespeare; and how much would not any of us have given for a copy of one of his plays, thus annotated, shewing by whom the different characters were acted, by whom the songs were sung, and even by whom the Prologue was spoken! This last is headed— "The Prologue as it was pronounced before the Queenes Majestie.” And opposite, in the margin, the same contemporary who made the other marginal notes (no mark of ownership is extant, on any part of the copy) has written "Towne loq"," meaning, of course, that Towne, who had the part of Hammond in the play, and comes in late, so that he would have time to re-dress, delivered the preliminary lines, when the piece was acted before the Queen. We may be pretty confident that all the parts are marked as they were cast for that occasion. With the Prologue, which has little merit, but plenty of adulation, I shall conclude my extracts and my remarks. "As wretches in a storme (expecting day) With trembling hands and eyes cast up to heauen, Must send us life, or sentence us to death." 7th November, 1848. DRAMATICUS. PS. 20th November. Since the above was written, I have succeeded in prevailing upon my friend to allow the whole of this rare and excellent play to be reprinted. I apprehend that he means to do it at his own expense; but, if not, I will not fail to send an accurate transcript of the first edition to the Secretary of the Shakespeare Society. It has not been reprinted for two hundred years, and all the impressions are, I believe, scarce. ART. XII.-On Norton and Sackville, the authors of "Gorboduc," the earliest blank verse Tragedy in our language. Mr. W. D. Cooper's Memoirs of Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville, which precede the reprint of their tragedy of "Gorboduc," (as it came from the press of William Griffith, in 1565) are so complete and satisfactory, that very little can be added to them; and I should not perhaps have considered it necessary to add anything, were they not persons of great importance in the history of our early drama, as the authors of the first tragedy (properly so called) in blank verse in our language. It was acted, as all our members are aware, in 1561, while Gascoigne's "Jocasta," (a translation in blank verse from the Greek) which perhaps may claim the second place, was not performed until 1566.1 First, as to Thomas Norton. Mr. Cooper has, of course, not omitted to mention that he was Counsel to the Stationers' Company, and he has given the dates upon this point very correctly from the Registers: the first payment of Norton's fee, for the discharge of this duty, is in the Warden's Accounts from July, 1561, to July, 1562; but I am able to supply the date and terms of his appointment from the same source of information, as well as to show that Norton was not the first Counsel the Stationers' Company employed. Twelve years 1 I cannot refuse to avail myself of this opportunity of noticing the reprint of this play, with three other dramatic pieces of a still earlier date, under the care of Mr. Francis James Child, of Cambridge, in the United States. The three other pieces are interludes well known in this country -"Thersites, "Jack Juggler," and the "Pardoner and the Frere," the two first anonymous and unique, (in the library of the Duke of Devonshire) and the last by John Heywood, a production of great humour and ability. Mr. Child's unpretending introduction does him great credit, and we heartily rejoice to perceive the growing interest taken in such matters on the other side of the Atlantic. Not a few of the most zealous members of our Society are natives of the United States. |